Eye on the Legislature

March 27, 2017

House Bill 17-1141: Provisions in HB 1241 amend and relocate the “Indian Arts and Crafts Sales Act” to Part 2, Article 15 of Title 6, Colorado Revised Statutes. The Colorado General Assembly declared the purpose of Part 2 is “to protect the public from false representation in the sale or offering for sale of authentic Indian and other arts and crafts.” Here are the amended statutes if HB 1241 is passed and enacted:

Inquiry as to producer:

It is the duty of every person selling or offering for sale at retail authentic Indian arts and crafts or other arts and crafts to the general public to make due inquiry of their suppliers concerning the methods used in producing the arts and crafts and to determine whether the arts and crafts are in fact authentic.

It is hereby made the duty of every person selling or offering for sale at retail to the general public natural or unnatural turquoise to make due inquiry of their suppliers concerning the source, grade and quality of the turquoise for resale.

If the supplier cannot authenticate to the seller the origin and process of manufacture regarding the Indians arts and crafts to be sold or traded to the seller, the seller shall not sell the arts and crafts to the general public as authentic Indian arts and crafts.

Unlawful Acts:

Sell or offer for sale any products represented as authentic Indian arts and crafts unless the products are in fact authentic Indians arts and crafts;

Sell or offer to sell any authentic Indian arts and crafts purporting to be silver unless the products are made of coin silver or sterling silver that is not less than ninety-nine percent pure silver by weight or unless the person provides a statement to the purchaser at retail concerning the content of the silver used in the arts and crafts;

Sell or offer any authentic Indian arts and crafts that are not separately displayed from other arts and crafts and the authentic Indian arts and crafts are not clearly designated with a tag attached to each product and containing the words “Authentic Indian” in letters not less than one-quarter inch high, or if the authentic Indian arts and crafts can clearly be labeled by the use of a display card, then in lieu of tagging each article the person may label the authentic Indian arts and crafts with a printed display card in letters not less than one-half inch in height and containing the words “Authentic Indian.” The label or display card shall be maintained with the related crafts in an area separate from other arts and crafts so as to clearly designate the authentic Indians arts and crafts.

Sell or offer to sell spin cast components of authentic Indian jewelry, other than findings, or use spin cast components in authentic Indian jewelry unless the jewelry is labeled as being so cast in its manufacture.

Unfair trade practices:

A person shall not:

Use a false or misleading statement, written or oral, or the lack thereof, a visual description or the lack thereof, or any representation or lack thereof made in connection with the sale or trade of Indian arts and crafts in the regular course of trade or commerce with the intent to deceive or mislead any person;

Falsely represent turquoise being sold as having characteristics, elements, or qualities it does not have;

Falsely represent turquoise being sold as natural turquoise if in fact it is in an unnatural state; and

Make a false or misleading statement of fact concerning the price or value for the purpose of selling or trading turquoise.

HB 1241 also sets forth the penalty and punishment for violations of the new Part 2, and also establishes that “any person who suffers financial injury or damages by reason of anything in Part 2 may sue in district court and may recover actual damages sustained by him or her and the cost of the suit, including reasonable attorney fees.

House Bill 17-1273: Conservation measures required of real estate developers is the target of HB 1273. The Colorado General Assembly’s legislative declaration is that “acquiring new water supplies to provide for Colorado’s growing population could increase conflict between new water users and existing water rights holders, and that by reducing the water needs of future development through water conservation and demand management practices, conflict can similarly be reduced.”

Adequate water supply for development: A local government shall not approve an application for a development permit unless it determines in its sole discretion, after considering the application and all of the information provided, that the applicant has satisfactorily demonstrated that the proposed water supply will be adequate AND THAT WATER CONSERVATION AND DEMAND MANAGEMENT MEASURES HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN THE WATER SUPPLY PLAN. A local government shall make such determination only once during the development permit approval process unless the water demands or supply of the specific project for which the development permit is sought or materially changed. A local government shall have the discretion to determine the stage in the development permit approval process at which such determination is made.

For water supply requirements (except in certain situations) an applicant for a permit must provide a report by a registered engineer that includes the following elements that the local jurisdiction may utilize:

measures to reduce indoor and outdoor demand; and

water demand management measures that will be implemented within the development to account for hydrologic variability.

The same water conservation measures apply if a water supply entity or a water supply entity that has a water supply plan is the provider of water for the proposed development.

In summary, if passed and enacted, HB 1273 prohibits the local government from approving the permit application unless the applicant demonstrates that appropriate water conservation and demand management measures have been included in the water supply plan.

Sponsors of House Bill 17-1273: Representatives Chris Hansen (D-Denver) 866-2967, and Hugh McKean (R-Larimer) 866-2947. No sponsor as yet in the Senate.